To Blog or Not to Blog? Are Blogs Effective Educational Tools?

Technology tools are extremely important to implement in the classroom in order to encourage a more non-linear learning experience for students who are more used to using technology as a learning tool. One of these tools is a blog. A blog is a website that allows the author to publish information instantly onto the Internet. They are implemented into the classroom for various reasons. Blogs can be interactive to encourage learning and blogs can also “allow teachers and students to begin conversations or add to the information published already” (Richardson, 2008). Blogs have the potential to be used as a learning tool in literally thousands of classrooms all over the world. Blogs have the potential to be an extremely useful learning tool because there is “something really powerful about easily being able to share resources and ideas with a Web audience that was willing to share back what they thought about those ideas” (Richardson, 2008). A blog is much more interactive than many other types of learning resources used in the classroom, and therefore proves to be a more useful learning tool.

When implementing these technological tools into the classroom, there are some ethical and safety considerations that educators must consider. Federal and state laws already regulate posting children’s names or pictures, or permitting children to access obscene content on the Internet. Educators have to focus on “responsibility, appropriateness, and common sense” (Richardson, 2008). If an incident were to arise when a student was exposed to information that was obscene, or publishes material that they should not have, teachers need to educate students how to appropriately deal with this situation as well.

While taking these risks into consideration, it is also important for educators to understand that blogs have many positive features that can be implemented in the classroom to provide an enriched learning experience for the student. Blogs can promote critical thinking, and be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking. Blogs can also encourage analogical thinking and be a particularly strong medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information. Finally, blogs can combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction (Richardson, 2008).

Overall, blogs are effective tools to implement in the classroom because they enhance many different parts of the classroom’s curriculum. In particular, blogs can enhance writing activities by providing many different forms of writing opportunities. Students “can write about personal reactions to topics covered in class, post links, write reflectively, and summarize or annotate reading” (Richardson, 2008). The blogs can also be used for different things, including journals, or a body of work intended for a larger audience. The idea that others will view their work also encourages students to be more careful, clearer, and more concise in their writing. It is an opportunity to really fine-tune a student’s writing skills. In addition to writing, blogs can also be used in different forms across the curriculum. Educators “are using blogs in all areas of the curriculum to collaborate with subject-specific experts, to archive learning, to share results of experiments, and to publish student work” (Richardson, 2008). Using blogs across the curriculum keeps different aspects of the curriculum connected in a way that was not possible before.

References
Richardson, W. (2008). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Here we go . . .

Ok, here we go. This is the first post for my blog. I am currently taking classes on how to introduce technology into the classroom. As a part of this class, we are experimenting with technology, thus, my foray into blogging. So far, I have learned that there is a LOT of technology that is not used effectively, particularly in terms of education. You would think that the opposite would be the case - since teenagers in high school typically know more about technology than the adults teaching them do. Additionally, technology, once the structure is in place, provides a more cost effective way to provide information to students. I have also learned that there are a lot of examples of technology used in the classroom that are surprising. Who would have thought to use Facebook as a learning tool? Or Twitter? Or Blogging? Technology has the capability to remove the walls of the classroom, if we can learn to use it effectively.